Josh Hatcher's Blog

In 2 Corinthians, there is some insight about the separation between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.


The Old Covenant.. or the Law given to Moses in the Old Testament, that man was required to keep if they wanted to be right with God....

is called the "Ministry of Death" and the "Ministry of Condemnation"

Paul clearly is referring to that Law that Moses brought that was "letters engraved on stones".

He says that the LETTER KILLS...

And even though that Law was about DEATH... Moses got all shiny when God gave it to him.

And if the Law of death had so much power that it made Moses all shiny, how much more awesome should this new covenant be?

What is this Old Covenant and why does Paul equate it with death?

A covenant is a promise, a contract, a deal.

The Old Covenant was God promising to be with His people if they kept His rules.

His rules, were IMPOSSIBLE to keep, and He knew it... and it carried a death sentence.

God loved His people, so He made a way for them to let someone else pay the price...
an animal would have to die, and its blood would represent their own.

So in other words, if I screwed up royally, and sinned against God (which I would.. because His rules were impossible to keep. No one is perfect, all have sinned) I had to give up one of my sheep to die for me.

In the book of Job and Psalms, this is referred to as a RANSOM... or a payment meant to bring freedom.

That freedom could only come from death.

And how beautiful it was, when sins were forgiven. They did not cry at the death of their prize sheep or bull... they cried out of gratitude for God's forgiveness.

But then comes the New Covenant.

Jesus dies once, as a ransom for all.

And that death pays for our sins when we accept it as our own.


For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory

For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it.

Paul says, "You think Moses was shiny? Wait till you see how shiny you get when Jesus pays for your sins! You ain't seen nothing yet!"

Then the rest of the passage in 2 Cornithians can be interpreted to say that we no longer have to live by the law, but instead, we get to walk in relationship with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. We get to have God's presence with us, and we can take off any veils, and look right at Him, as we join Him in His work.

We were once slaves to that law, but now, because God's Spirit is with us, we have FREEDOM.

And now, that we get to hang out with God's Spirit, it's like looking into a mirror, and every day, we see that we're looking more and more like Jesus.


For More Study:
If you want to study God's word some more, and look up the differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, you can find a comparison chart here. The website is pretty "old school", but if you print it out, and look up the scriptures, you'll see what a beautiful thing God gave us in this New Covenant.

Labels: Corinthians, freedom, Holy Spirit, Jesus, New Covenant, Old Covenant, ransom, veils

This passage might just seem like Paul is wrapping up his letter, saying his goodbyes so he can get lick the envelope and send it off... but there is a lot of insight here that we could learn from.

First notice that Paul encourages them to set aside a portion of their income to fund ministry. He's hoping that people will do it so they don't have to pass the plate.... (which indicates that people weren't giving to God's work as they should the last time he was there....) let's be sure to set aside a portion of our income to fund God's work here on earth...

Then Paul gives instructions for how they should respond to Timothy... He says that everyone should accept him... Timmy was a young preacher, and I have a feeling he was often rejected because of his age. (Reading through the letters Paul wrote to Timothy give me that opinion.)


Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 14Do everything in love.


GREAT ADVICE for all of us in any day....

Then Paul gives them some more advice about people serving the Lord in Corinth.

15You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. I urge you, brothers, 16to submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in the work, and labors at it. 17I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you. 18For they refreshed my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition.

Paul tells them to "submit" to the people in their vicinity who are serving the Lord...

It's the same word that Paul uses to describe the relationship between husbands and wives in other passages...

The word submit carries the connotation of a pillar, or a support... Paul is saying that these men are honoring God, and encouraging the family of God, and they are doing what the others in Corinth aren't doing... refreshing people's spirits... and because of that, they deserve recognition, and as I interpret this, authority.

And to submit to authority doesn't just mean blind obedience... it implies support...

Are we pillars of support to the people in leadership above us?

I know. Just for the record... I'm not talking about myself, even though I am in church leadership.

I'm talking about the people that lead ministry over us... in my case, Pastor Mike, who is my cell group leader, and the other members of the "hub"... Do I support them with my words and actions?

Are we encouraging and refreshing and supportive to our cell group leaders? Our pastors? Or the other people that are in leadership?

We may not always agree... if we did, we would be very boring... differences in opinion can bring balance and harmony...

But we should always be supportive, even when we disagree.

It's something we've lost in our culture in general... as distrust of leadership has been a major tenet of "americanism" since the 60's.

We often disagree with those in authority over us, and we demand our rights.

We forget that our right is to disagree and voice that... in a civil and respectable manner...

Our responsibility is to submit to the authorities over us, even when we disagree, as long as it doesn't cause us to sin against our conscience.

Rights and Responsibility go hand in hand.

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